Recently Cuban pitcher Luis Danys Morales received a well-deserved reward for his excellent start to the minor league season and was promoted to Triple-A (Las Vegas) by the Athletics. This move was announced by our colleague Francys Romero on social media. Morales is the organization’s number 4 prospect, according to MLB Pipeline.
The Sancti Spiritus, Cuba native was outstanding during his time at Double-A (Midland), with a record of three wins and one loss in eight outings, all as a starter. In 42.1 innings, he had allowed 15 runs (14 of them earned) for an excellent 2.98 ERA.
If anything had captured the attention of fans and press, it was his fantastic ratio of strikeouts (53) to walks (15), placing him at the forefront (second) among pitchers with the most batters retired via strikeouts at Double-A. Given this reality, it’s no surprise that his WHIP was an exquisite 1.02.
In two starts at Triple-A the right-hander has a 1-1 record and 5.06 earned run average. Recently the young pitcher spoke to the colleague Javier González about his accent through the the Athletics minor league system and his future goals.
When you signed in 2023, did you think the Athletics’ rise through the development pyramid would be so rapid?
I didn’t believe it because I wasn’t yet familiar with the minor league system, and thank God this year I’ve performed better in comparison to the previous year and the year before. Little by little, the results have come.
You were were promoted, but what differences or similarities do you see between Double-A and Triple-A?
It’s more or less the same baseball, since Double-A is a strong league with many prospects. All leagues have prospects and skill levels, so I’m just trying to the same thing : locating pitches and not trying to do more than I can. I am just keeping at it. Being that the Athletics are at the bottom of the division prospects are promoted more quickly when these things happen.
Have you heard anything about maybe seeing you on the big team by the end of the year?
No, I haven’t heard anything yet, but you just have to keep doing the work, because whether we go up or down doesn’t depend on us. The managers are the ones who make the moves, so we’re not under pressure. Let’s just do the work, and when God wants, we’ll get the opportunity.
You played in the 2020-21 National Series and didn’t sign here until 2023. How difficult was it for you to go more than a year without pitching?
In my first year, it was a bit difficult because I spent a lot of time without playing and without facing batters. It took me a little time to regain my confidence and my form. Cubans have very good pitchers in MLB, but they’re all relievers.
Why do you think Cuba isn’t producing the talent expected of them in terms of starting pitching?
I honestly don’t know much about that. I don’t know how teams manage their rotation and the available talent they have. Maybe they need some as a starter, others as relievers, but I don’t really know much about that.
Any specific goals you have for this season?
Reaching the Major Leagues. This year we’re focused on reaching the Major Leagues, and although we don’t have a set timeframe, we’re going to try to do better every time we play. If you achieve this, you’ll get closer every day.